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Google’s “mobile-friendly” update and how it affects your business

Why do you need a mobile-friendly website for your business?

Recently, on April 21, Google made a major update to its mobile search algorithm. The issue of this change made by Google is that this new algorithm favorits mobile-friendly websites to the detriment of other websites that aren’t mobile-friendly. In essence it changed the order in which websites are ranked when users search for something using their smartphone.

The change alarmed millions of small business that feared their websites would disappear from mobile search results. The update made by Google only affects only the results of searches conducted on mobile devices (phones and tablets).

Let’s clarify what’s a mobile-friendly website. It’s a website resized to fit whatever screen it’s viewed on, it has easy-to-click links and large texts. Now regarding the change made by Google, the result is that all mobile-optimized sites will be displayed first before those websites that don’t have a mobile version. Google actually displays the label “mobile-friendly” in a mobile search.

Check if your website is mobile-friendly!

Google considers that a page is eligible for the “mobile-friendly” label if it meets the following 4 criterias:

.It avoids software that is not common on mobile devices (ex: Flash)

The page uses text that can be read without zooming

The content is sized to the screen in such a way that users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom

The links are placed far enough apart so that the correct one can be easily tapped

Statistics and reasons to make-over your website to being responsive

The change aims to help mobile users to have a better mobile web experience considering that, according to statistics, about 60% of online traffic now comes from mobile.

The change draws attentions to another fact we should take into account: the content is still very important, but having the best content is not sufficient anymore, if it’s not also readable! So Google’s change draws attention to the user experience which is now just as important as the content.

The change draws attentions to another fact we should take into account: the content is still very important, but having the best content is not sufficient anymore, if it’s not also readable! So Google’s change draws attention to the user experience which is now just as important as the content.